Life-changing Field Trips with Azula
by beifongfirebender
Summary: Adult Azula comes back out of hiding and has to win over the Gaang one by one.
1. Katara

_**OK, so welcome to THIS…**_

_**You remember when Zuko went on little field trips with every member of the Gaang to make them like him? Yeah, good stuff.**_

_**Here I ask the question 'How would Azula get the Gaang to accept her?' so basically, it's a story about adult Azula trying to fit in with our heroes in the form of four field-trips because we care about tradition.**_

_**It takes place directly after the events of my story 'While The Parents Are Away' but you can ignore that and just read this, ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW is that Azula ran a criminal empire with her husband and they had a son named Zari.**_

_**The Gaang is all between 40 and 50 and their kids ages: Bumi (21), Kya (18), Izumi (17), Tenzin (15), Lin (14), Zari (10), Suyin (8) Even though I doubt I'll have time to mention all of them till the end of the story.**_

_**Alright, now off to it. First, we have a little warm up, then it's Katara's turn.**_

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 1**

The fact that some people could let vines grow on their house, and then call it style or decoration, simply boggled Azula. Most of the buildings on Air Temple Island were covered with them, even the steps she climbed to the main residence. She looked left to her brother, ready to voice her opinion on the place, but then stopped herself.

_Nice_. She has to be _nice_ tonight.

"You two can go on in. We'll be right after you," Zuko said, turning to the kids once they were close to the largest building. Zari immediately started running to the door, not even thinking to check with Azula, while Izumi followed graciously after, probably wondering why her father wanted privacy.

"What?" Azula stopped walking once the kids were inside the house and out of sight.

"I just wanted to make sure you know how important tonight is." Zuko started carefully. "How important your behavior tonight is."

Azula wanted to object to being spoken to like a child, but stopped herself. "We had this conversation already, at the palace. Or have you forgotten? Or maybe you still don't trust me?"

"I trust you just fine. It's them you need to win over. You remember why?"

"Yeah, yeah… Apparently, they're all still afraid of me. Which to me, sounds like their problem."

"You see… Stuff like that!" He pointed at her. She resisted the urge to break the finger. "That's what you need to get rid of."

"I'll tell you if I'm taking character advice…" She breathed out and continued towards the building.

"I need to know you're going to try your best," he said after her, causing her to turn.

"Do you see my hair? It's down. Do you see the fruit cake in my hands?" She lifted the big glass plate slightly. "This is me trying."

"Good. But let me go in there first." He hurried to catch up to her.

"Why?"

"Just wait in the hall."

"I was invited tonight, wasn't I?"

"You would've been, if they knew you were going to be in the city." He paused. "I think."

**oooooooooo**

After finally proving his point, Zuko left his sister in the hallway and entered the biggest room in the entire house. It was where Aang and Katara always held parties. Birthday parties, graduations, they'd throw a get-together with any excuse they could think of.

Right now, the big room was decorated with all kinds of colorful paper fans, fringes and makeshift lanterns, all surrounding a big banner with the words _WE DID IT_ written in childish handwriting. Zuko loved both Aang and Katara, but they never threw anything away. Whenever young Bumi, Tenzin or Kya made anything for their parents Zuko knew he'd have to look at it until the day he dies.

"I was just about to go look for you, Fire Lord…" Sokka pushed a glass of something, probably alcoholic, into Zuko's hand.

"Why the face?" Aang asked, between two bites of something Katara baked. "We saved the world. You know what that means… We deserve to blow off some steam."

"Right… I just have to tell you something first. I…" Zuko stopped realizing Katara and Toph were listening now too. Only the kids were still chatting on about something in the corner. "You remember how I used to not be a part of the group?"

"Is that really a party topic, man?" Sokka bumped his shoulder.

"You're right… Just… I kind of-" Zuko was interrupted when Azula entered the room, holding up her plate of desserts and smiling more innocently than any ex-warlord should be allowed to. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, even the children. Zuko looked at each of his friends, finding the same half-scared, half-annoyed face on all of them.

"What's she doing here?" Sokka asked, emphasizing the _she_ disgustedly.

"My apologies…" Azula refused to let their reaction discourage her. "Zuko planned to tell you first, but your servants had issues with me standing in the hall."

"They're not servants." Katara spoke sharply after a few awkward seconds.

"They're our friends." Aang added, nodding to the air acylates to leave them.

"Of course… My mistake." Azula tried to bounce back, kicking herself internally for that novice slip-up. "You have a lovely home."

All eyes moved back to Zuko.

"I invited her," he said.

"You can put that in the back," Katara told Azula. Then she took a step towards Zuko, whispering, "Can we talk for a second?"

Azula could hear everything they were saying clearly, but she played along and set her plate on the table. She turned her back to everyone, hoping that would relax them a bit, while she cut the fruit cake she bought into little squares. She really thought they were warming up to her on the ship. She didn't know they'd be this unhappy. But maybe it was too sudden to just show up…

"What were you thinking, bringing her here?!" Azula heard Katara ask.

"We all agreed to pardon her for all her crimes. This isn't news." Zuko was clearly surprised at the hostility as well.

"Yes… But that doesn't mean I want her in my home, near my children, eating my food. This is a gathering of friends, and I don't want to spend every second worrying about my family's safety."

Well, that was some pretty devoted hatred, from the waterbender.

This was it, Azula was sure. This was where Zuko would put his foot down and defend her. That's why she kept arranging deserts, and listened.

"You think I wanted to bring her here?" To his credit, Zuko at least made an effort to lower his voice, but it didn't matter. Azula heard it and it stopped the knife in her hand for about two seconds.

"Can I get a slice?" Izumi interrupted Azula's trance.

"Sure." Azula continued cutting and handed the young girl a slice of cake on a plate, since apparently, they didn't have servants, only _friends_.

"I couldn't leave her in the Fire Nation," Zuko was saying as Azula brought her attention back to eavesdropping. "There have been protests, riots… Without me there, they'd storm the palace and kill her. Or worse, she'd kill them, and it would only prove their claims."

"Which are?" Aang asked.

"Reasonable," Sokka managed to say before Toph slapped his shoulder. "Hey!"

"That's why Mai had to stay behind. It's a mess over there. So I was hoping you'd consider…" Zuko started awkwardly. "Keeping an eye on Azula while I try and calm things down back home."

"You mean like, you'd leave her here? In Republic City?" Sokka asked.

"Not on your life!" Toph let slip before making her tone more appropriate for a conversation behind someone's back. "I have a city to get in order after we all stepped out for a week. The last thing I need is more reason for people to act out."

So Republic City was a mess as well. Until that moment Azula was hoping their reaction was so severe simply because they had no other major threats to worry about. Like that ever happened to world leaders... With the corner of her eye, Azula noticed the children all gathered around a blackboard on the other side of the room. The blackboard read in great big caps, _DAYS SINCE THE WORLD HAD TO BE SAVED: 7_. She watched as Bumi erased the number and let her son write a big eight instead of it. Why couldn't the parents be so quick to accept her and her son?

"What do you think she'll do here? How much damage can she possibly do, even if she wanted to?" Zuko's words brought Azula's ears back towards the conversation. "It's four of you and only one of her."

"We're not babysitting your little sister, _Zuzu_…" Toph mocked. "Sorry. We got our own stuff going on."

"It's not about what she'll do here," Sokka said. "It's about who she is. She's a symbol of something we don't want the people thinking we support."

"We're not having this discussion," Katara cut in. "She's dangerous in more ways than one and she doesn't belong in my house or in this city."

"Come on, Katara. She saved us, and she didn't have to." Zuko tried.

"For all we know it's all part of an elaborate plan," Sokka said.

Hearing that Azula had an unbelievable urge to do something destructive just for destruction's sake, for the first time in ten years maybe.

"Aang, you're quiet," she heard Zuko say. "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry, Zuko. She can stay tonight, but I want you to take her with you when you leave. We have too much going on. I have to leave for Omashu tomorrow, I won't be here to intervene if needed."

"You're leaving?" Katara asked her husband. "We just got back."

"It's what Toph said. We stepped out. I have a mountain of letters calling for my help, I have to start dealing with them. I thought it was implied."

"It wasn't implied, but it is typical."

Azula made a mental note of the tension there, but decided it was time she stepped in and did something to defend herself since Zuko didn't prove himself capable or willing.

"Excuse me, if I may interrupt whatever you were talking about." She walked over to where they were standing in a circle and squeezed in between her brother and the water non-bender. "I just wanted to thank you for inviting me into your beautifully-decorated home with your friends. It was a real honor to fight on the same side with the world's bravest, smartest, most famous heroes…"

"Let me guess, someone told you compliments would work good to win us over." Katara glared over to Zuko briefly.

"See how smart you are?" Azula smiled somewhat unsuccessfully.

No matter how old she got, she never understood it. You were supposed to be nice to people. But lying isn't nice. But also, the truth isn't nice. So what in the world were you supposed to say?

"Anyone want to try my fruit cake?" she asked in desperation to fix the situation. Katara rolled her eyes and walked away and into the kitchen.

"Just don't burn anything," Sokka told Azula. "Toph will be watching you. Well… Sensing you."

"Why me, dummy?"

"You're a police officer. And I plan on drinking."

"Well, I plan on drinking."

"Aang, would you settle this for us?" Sokka looked to his friend for just a few seconds, but it was enough for Toph to grab a bottle of booze from the table.

"Hey, Chief!" she called and chugged the rest of the bottle, horrifying Sokka and amusing Aang and Zuko.

"You can do it, right?" Sokka asked Aang.

"It's funnier if it's you." The Avatar smiled and watched as Sokka followed Toph away, presumably to bicker some more. Then he took a step towards Azula.

"My wife…" Aang had trouble letting the words out. "She doesn't like that you're here."

_It is rather obvious, yes_, Azula thought.

"You don't have to apologize for-"

"I'm not," he interrupted her. "You're allowed to stay, but I'd appreciate it if you kept away from her for the rest of the night."

"Oh." She had no idea why that comment next to all the others hit her so hard, maybe it was the combined power of all of them finally being too much, but in that moment, she felt fourteen and without friends once again.

She wondered briefly if the evening would have been any different if her old friends Mai and Ty Lee were there. Would they have stood in her defense? Would they have welcomed her back? Probably not. She could wish…

The rest of the night didn't get any better. Eventually, Katara came back from the kitchen with abnormal amounts of food. They ate dinner at three separate tables so Azula managed to stay away from her as instructed. Zari and Su decided to eat with Azula, she would have been alone otherwise. At one point Sokka tried to get Su to come eat with him, presumably to move her away from the _monster_, but the girl was having none of it. Azula made a mental note of that as well.

But soon her son was off playing with the other kids again and Azula sat alone in the corner of the room. The fruit cake she brought was delicious, she checked, but that clearly didn't matter since it was almost untouched by the end of the night. She tried speaking to someone from time to time, but it just wasn't working out. She was watching all of them clap along to some unbearable song on the radio when she walked to Zuko and pulled him aside.

"What? You want to dance?" he asked.

"No… And for the record, that will never be it." She lowered her voice, "Will you take Zari to the hotel when you're all done here?"

"Sure. What are you going to do?"

"I'll leave, so you can all relax and enjoy your party."

"Come on, don't be like that. They let you stay."

"No, Zuko! They made it agonizingly clear I'm not and won't ever be welcome here…"

"Azula…"

"Besides, I ran out of compliments. I'm pretty sure I called the Avatar wonderastic once…" She smiled bitterly and walked out.

She took the same boat back they used earlier to get off the island as fast as possible. Since it was so late, it was just her and the boy in charge of rowing and she was sure those twenty minutes it took them from the island to the shore were the scariest twenty minutes of his life.

He'd obviously pieced together who she was, since he trembled the entire time and didn't look directly at her once. He couldn't have been older than Bumi, she was sure. He must have grown up on stories of the war. And everyone knows who the villain in those was…

"You know I'm not going to do anything to you, right?" she asked, making him flinch so suddenly he almost dropped the ores. Then he nodded violently. She wanted to ask his name and make sure he believed her, but she was afraid if she opened her mouth again he might simply jump out of the boat and swim for it.

When she was finally on shore she handed him a stack of bills, with his price and a generous donation for the suffered emotional trauma, but he just shook his head.

"Take it. You did your job," she tried, but he just rowed the boat away.

Azula couldn't help but let out an enraged growl.

She proceeded to roam the streets aimlessly for the rest of the night. The thing was, if you wanted to be good at scheming, you could only think forward. Her father taught her than very young. No sense in guilt or regret, those were for weaklings and morons. The smart people only ever thought about next moves and the ripples they would make. She tried to put her mind to solving this particular unpopularity puzzle, but she couldn't keep out that slightest bit of doubt.

Was coming back out of hiding a mistake? She did it for Zari, yes, but a week ago she was a queen. Queen of pirates, spies and killers, but a queen nonetheless. She had respect, power, safety… A flash of her husband dying hit her. There was no safety… It didn't exist.

She remembered Zari's father some more… Would he approve of this? Would he be mad? She'd disassembled their pirate empire. Their dream. The dream they brought up one brick at a time from the dust. Would he be screaming at her to change her mind right now? Perhaps. But he was a dead man for six years already. She had living people to worry about. Zuko promised he'd find honest jobs for her entire crew. She got pardoned. Zari got to be a prince.

But if it was so easy why couldn't she have done it before her husband died…

She didn't cry. She would have if she let herself. But no. If she allowed herself to cry every time life wasn't going her way, that's all she'd do these days.

**oooooooooo**

"For the third and final time, my son was here at the party last night and he left a necklace behind. I'm here to get it back for him. Nothing more." Azula explained as calmly as she could muster, while being stared down by three quite angry air acolytes.

"I told you already, Katara was very clear about you not being allowed back on the premises," the oldest woman persisted.

"Yes, extremely clear," a young woman echoed her words.

"I know this might be a radical suggestion, but how about we don't tell her I was here? I'm sure I'll just take a few minutes." Azula had to remind herself to breathe. It was supposed to just be a quick visit to Air Temple Island in the morning and then she could spend the rest of the day ignoring what happened last night. And all these people who thought they were so much better than her...

The old woman shook her head, while the younger acolytes gasped like she'd said a swear word. She hadn't, had she?

"I'm afraid I'll have to find Katara and tell her you're here. She'll decide what would be best." The old crow blabbed on. Azula could push these people out of her way so easily… She wouldn't even have to hurt them significantly. They knew who she was, maybe she could just threaten them? But no, Zuko was right. _Nice_. She had to be _nice_.

"Maybe we should just let her take what she wants and-"

"Shut up!" the old woman interrupted the young man who finally decided to speak up.

Friction. Good. Just a little of that and you had fire.

Azula waited till the old woman turned back towards her. Then she looked to the man that had spoken to help her and said: "Real mature, flipping her off while her back's turned…"

The older woman gasped and turned to the man immediately.

"Atid, I wouldn't expect something like that from you, especial-"

"I didn't! She's lying. She…" That's when Atid and the old woman realized Azula was no longer next to them in the hall. They looked away for just a few seconds and she was nowhere to be found.

While they debated whether to bother Katara with this particular turn of events, Azula was already in the big room where the party had been held. She was turning over pillows and checking under tables and sofas, putting everything back in its place the second she cleared it. She was careful not to leave any trace, but that would be for nothing if she was found there. And that necklace simply wasn't turning up.

Zari really should have been more careful. He loved that old wooden necklace, he never took it off under normal circumstances. She thought to last night. Zari went to Kya's room with Su at one point. She had to check there too.

Since it was too late for breakfast, but way too early for lunch she decided going through the kitchen was her safest bet. It was smart. That's why she was so irritated when she swung the big door open and found Katara there, looking straight at her.

The thing was, when she heard the door, Katara twitched more like someone being busted for something, than someone being startled. That's when Azula saw it. Tears running down Katara's cheeks. The shock of being discovered, it made sense. It wasn't just Azula the woman didn't want through that door, she probably didn't want anyone seeing her like this.

"What are you doing here, Azula?!" She tried to turn so only the side of her face was visible. Like that'd hide the glimmering tear streaks down her face.

"I came to find Zari's-"

"I told you you're not welcome here! I told Zuko, I told Aang… Do I have to paint it on the side of the house?!"

Azula knew the smart thing to do would be to just get out of the situation. But then she thought about facing Zari and telling him she failed to get the one thing that never left his side.

"I need to find the necklace Zari left here last night and then I'll be on my way. I already looked in there, now I-"

"I already found it. It's in a red box by the front door."

Those useless acolytes…

"Good." Azula watched as Katara wiped her left cheek. "If this is about me, you can calm down since I'm leaving with Zuko."

"Not everything is about you… Now leave." Katara's voice was calmer now, but you could still hear tears in her voice.

Azula turned to leave the room. She was at the door, when she heard Katara's sobs continue. She really shouldn't bother with this woman… The waterbender obviously hated her with a ferocity one could only describe as passion.

"Must I have you thrown out?!"

"Listen… Katara." Azula turned back around, letting the door close again. "Are you… Is something… the matter?"

Why was she asking that? And why in the world did she actually want to hear the answer?

Walk away. Walk away. Walk away.

"You _have to_ be joking…"

"I just mean…" Azula still couldn't believe what she was doing. "The times I found myself crying in a room alone, were not the times my life was going particularly well."

_Honest_ was good, but this was too honest. Katara seemed to be caught off guard by it.

"Don't pretend like you have any concern for me or my family." She turned her face completely away, wiping her other cheek.

Then Azula remembered the tension she picked up on last night.

"It's Aang, isn't it?" Azula managed and then watched Katara's face go from confused to angry and then back to sad. "He left this morning, didn't he?"

"You make me sound so pathetic. It's not like that."

"Then what's it like?"

"He left again… He… I didn't even see him today. We were just held hostage and he leaves, and he can't tell me when he'll be back…" Katara paused for a few deep breaths, since talking was bringing the tears right back. Azula couldn't feel anything but terribly out of place. Someone else should be hearing this, someone who might actually be able to help.

"We don't even talk about anything other than the kids," Katara continued. "He doesn't want to be here. I can feel him slipping away… And I know he's cheating!" After that last sentence she burst into tears again, leaving Azula in shock.

Someone else… Someone else should be here instead of her.

"When you say _know_…" Azula drew closer and pulled out a chair to sit next to the woman while still leaving both of them enough personal space. "Do you mean that you have evidence?"

"I can't believe I'm talking to you of all people… No! I don't have _evidence_. With something like that you just _know_. You feel it."

Azula always greatly disliked people who didn't seem to understand the difference between fact and feeling. She was reluctant to make business deals with them and even more reluctant to keep them as friends. But something she knew to be a fact was that untrained people sometimes did pick up on certain subtle clues, although unknowingly, and their brain presented the information as an out of place feeling, rather than a list of observations. It was something her husband had taught her, and that man was as far from the impulsive and over-emotional waterbender stereotype as one could possibly get.

"I must sound crazy right now…" Katara made another effort to wipe her tears and turned her head to make eye contact finally.

"No." Azula knew all too well how much that word could hurt. "Have you talked to him about it?"

"No… No, actually you're the only person I've told." She let out a small laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? I don't really know why that is…"

"It's because you don't care what I think about you. If your friends judge you, that stings. Your enemies… Who cares? But I won't. Not more than I did before, anyway."

Katara was a bit stunned, before whispering, "You're right."

"So when did you start _feeling it_?" Azula relaxed a bit into the chair, partly because Katara had stopped crying to think, partly because she felt control over the situation slipping back into her fingers.

"I don't know… A long while ago. It just keeps getting worse and worse… Like we're growing further apart."

"That's because you're not doing anything about it," Azula said before thinking. Maybe she was too relaxed. Whatever, if Katara wanted to be coddled, she should have opened up to Zuko.

"I guess after Tenzin was born… I don't really know."

"Tenzin's fifteen. You're telling me you've had fifteen years of unhappy marriage?" Azula hadn't even experienced fifteen years of marriage.

"I wouldn't say we're unhappy…"

"Well, from what I can see you're unhappy enough to think he might have replaced you. Which I think is very unlikely…"

"We're not unhappy. We almost never fight."

"That's not positive. If you don't have disagreements, you have this." Azula gestured to the woman's tear-soaked sleeves.

"You're the expert now? So you and your husband… Wen, you fought all the time?"

"We disagreed occasionally. And I loved him way too much to let him be wrong." She smiled, but just for a moment. "He only ever did one thing that brought me to tears…"

"What?"

"He died." Azula was sure that would help Katara put things into perspective. At the end of the day, both her and Aang were alive and here. Nothing was lost.

"Um… Azula, I-"

"Don't. I brought it up, it's alright." She took a deep breath. "What went wrong after Tenzin?"

"You know… We had three children. There was more of them than of us. I was overrun here at home and he had to travel more since Toph had Lin and couldn't help him. We saw each other less. We talked less…"

"Why didn't you go with him?"

"I… I had a baby and two older kids to take care of."

"Tenzin stopped being a baby fourteen years ago. When we were young you and Aang were annoyingly inseparable, if I recall correctly. Why didn't you join him again?"

"I don't know…" Katara went back to her defensive tone. "You can't compare now to when we were kids… I'm a mother. There's cleaning and homework and cooking to be done…"

"Since when are those synonymous with being a mother? If you went with him sometimes, you'd be finished twice as fast and home a lot more." It worked for her and Wen well enough. "Marriage is like a military alliance. Their crisis is your crisis, their army is your army…" Azula spared a glance and realized Katara didn't really look like she was following. "You can't just live your life like the other one doesn't exist. The point of alliances is to be stronger together than apart, to aid each other."

"So what you're saying is, I should go with him next time he has work to do?"

"Exactly."

Katara let out a breath and leaned back into the chair, "It's been years… I don't even know if I'd be any help."

"Yeah. Sure. Okay." Azula snickered, standing up to leave. "Just stay here then…"

_And cook. And clean. Until all your kids move out. And you're left waiting alone in this house for your husband to return, only to find that you don't have a single thing to say to each other once he does…_

If only making people feel better was as easy as making them cry.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Katara rose too. "I'm not the Avatar. I lost my touch and I don't know if I could-"

"Nonsense. During Sozin's Comet, who took me down?" Azula's face went dead serious.

"Well, yes, but-"

"It wasn't Zuko, with his enhanced power. It wasn't any other big, strong man… It was you, a half-trained little peasant girl. I haven't forgotten, so why have you?"

It was apparent from Katara's expression that Azula's words had quite the impact.

"Would you like to help me with a mission? Right now?" she added.

"Like right this second?" Katara shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't tell anyone… And the kids are all here, someone has to feed them and…"

"Spirits, did someone dote over you this much when you were their age? You know, almost an adult…"

"They're not like I was. I can't just disappear without so much as a word."

"That's a shame, because I really need your help." A tiny smirk appeared on Azula's face as she said the words.

"I know what you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything… I'm just your friend's sister, who will be walking into a criminal hideout without backup. A person in need. Remind me, how do you good people feel about that? Something about a moral obligation…"

"Fine."

As soon as Katara said the word, Azula started leading the way into the hallway. As soon as she cleared the room, however, she heard loud footsteps followed by a screechy voice.

"How dare you traipse around these halls unattended?! For shame!" It was the old air acolyte from before, yelling and flopping her hands around in fury.

"Baika?" Katara came into the hall too. "Is that how you treat my guests when I'm not around?"

"Of course not, Katara… This woman-"

"Princess Azula of the Fire Nation," Katara corrected, to Azula's great surprise.

"Yes, of course." Baika looked down in embarrassment. "She snuck into the house without getting my permission. I had no choice but to assume her intentions were of a less than legal nature."

"It was a misunderstanding. One we've just rectified." Katara finished, then noticed Azula's look. "Anyway, you'll have to make do for lunch. I'm leaving."

"To where? What should I tell the kids?" Baika asked.

"I'm going out… It's work. It's… No one's business." Katara finished and looked over to Azula who gave a reassuring nod. Then they walked side by side down the hall and towards the entrance. Then just before they walked out of Baika's view, Azula half-turned and waved back at the old woman.

_Nice_… She would never be good at it…

Once outside, Katara suggested they take Tenzin's Oogi, rather than a ship to make better time. Azula took her up on that offer and spent the next half an hour of travel explaining the mission to her. It wasn't overly complicated. Once Azula retired as Pirate Queen and criminal mastermind, she offered all people who worked for her royal pardons and honest work. Most people took the deal. Others decided they liked the criminal life too much. She recently got a tip that a group of her former employees were robbing people sailing into Republic City and she simply couldn't have that. She was building a new image for herself and these people were still connected to her.

"And when I say _Do it_ you knock one of them out. How ever you want…" Azula finished explaining as they came down from the bison.

"Just so we're on the same page, how do I know which one?" Katara asked.

"Biggest one, closest one, which ever one you like… The point is to scare them. We're not here to take them out. We're trying to make them see they don't want to cross us."

"If we were here to _take out_, you know I couldn't have any part in that…"

"Yeah, I know, Katara." Azula crouched behind a bush and waited for Katara to do the same. Then she pointed at a few young men gathered around a fire with some food cooking.

"That's them?" Katara asked.

"Yes. Let's go. And please can you not look at them like that?"

"Like what?"

"You're supposed to be the scary back-up. You should try looking more like you're ready to crack sculls and less like you want to bake them cookies." Azula stood up and started walking to the camp in the open.

"I can't help it," Katara followed close after, whispering, "They're all so young… Where are their parents?"

"They never had any. Most of them were raised in our crews."

"So, you adopted them?" Katara sounded more surprised than she might have wanted to.

"No, of course not. Who do you think I am? And there are more orphans than I could learn the names of…" Azula rolled her eyes. "I just paid for their food, shelter and education."

"I didn't know you rescued children." Katara was struck by the intrusive though that _the_ Princess Azula might have helped more orphans in her life than she did.

"Don't be so dramatic… People are a resource. A parentless child has endless possibility, but not if it's left alone to starve."

"So you made them into soldiers?" Katara stopped her.

"Yes. And cooks, and accountants, and maids. Don't you think if I'd brainwashed them, they'd listen to me when I said to stand down." She paused "It's not my fault the world is so horrible that most people would do anything for guaranteed food, work and safety."

Katara wanted to say something to that. She intended to… She just couldn't form a sentence that made sense, and before she succeeded Azula was already calling over the criminals. She was surprised at how smoothly Azula handled herself with these people. Sure, they yelled and called her a traitor, but they let her just walk in and listened to her without interrupting.

Katara was amazed. She didn't really have to do anything as the back-up. Azula hadn't really needed her here. Azula just wanted to help show her she could still make a difference.

"You know what I'm thinking?" one of the men asked.

"Knowing you, probably something about lunch." Azula said, making the man's friends chuckle. She loved using this technique to remind young leaders of how little power they really had. If someone disrespected her in front of her people, they would be eager for revenge, not laughing.

"I think you stepped down because you're too old," the man continued, ignoring his friends. "I think you old hags better leave us alone, or else."

Azula raised an eyebrow. Ah, defiance… They young never seemed to lack it. She was just thinking about what to say to prove to these people how their best course of action was to listen to her. Then Azula felt it. The earth shook.

"Old?!" Katara looked ready to crack sculls now. Azula couldn't help but smirk, watching the completely terrified faces of the young criminals as the ground started cracking and water seeped upwards, turning into icy daggers just before reaching their faces. Katara was powerful, she'd just forgotten. But now she was feeling it and it was all thanks to Azula.

"… And you _will_ show respect!" she was just finishing her monologue at the criminals' leader.

"Y-Yes," he mumbled.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"That feel good?" Azula asked her.

"Yes…"

"Good."

**oooooooooo**

_**OK, next time it'll be another member of the Gaang. I plan on updating in a couple of days…**_

_**And I know I made the Gaang a little harsh, but like you know how people get with age, closed off to everything, set in their ways, think that they've seen everything and know everything…**_

_**Would love any thoughts you can give me… :)**_


	2. Toph

_**Continuing this mess… Next one up is Toph. This one's a bit shorter even though I could see those two becoming decent friends…**_

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 2**

No one at the Republic City Police Station was happy to see Azula. Only thing she wasn't sure about was who hid it worse, the officers who knew they weren't allowed to arrest her, or the detainees who had to watch her walk free while they wore cuffs. They were all simmering with hatred as she walked through the building and towards the Chief's office. There, she used the absolute shock of the policemen waiting in line, to walk through the door into Toph's office before her turn.

No one stopped her. No one said a word. Weaklings…

"For you." Azula pushed the young man that she pulled in with her into a chair opposite Toph. He was tied up and gagged, moaning quietly.

"And I didn't get you anything…" Toph lowered her bare feet from the desk to make sure she was sensing that right.

"I was waiting to cross the street when this boy tried to pickpocket me. He had no idea who he was dealing with, of course…" Azula shoved his head into the table and he whimpered. "Katara told me I can't simply burn the word _thief_ into his forehead, like I wanted to, but rather that I should bring him here to you. So here you go."

After finishing her thought, Azula turned to leave.

"Wait. Sit. You have to fill out the thing. There's a stack of papers, take one. Fill out the form."

Azula sat down next to the thief and looked at the paper. It was a document, yes, but most of it was empty, waiting for her to fill in. Culprit, crime, witnesses, date and time…

"Can you do it or not, Princess?" Toph asked, after a few quiet minutes. "I have to put my official stamp when you're done."

"Ready." Azula put out the document and Toph stamped it.

"Give that to one of my guys and they'll put that kid behind bars…" Toph leaned back into her chair. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to get done."

"Don't you want to know what you just approved?" Azula's voice went cold and threatening.

"What?"

"The paper I have in my hand, it says you, the Chief, witnessed the Avatar physically abusing his wife. It has your official stamp, so if I gave it to an officer, he'd have to go arrest the Avatar. Do you see how stupid your system is? What would you have done if I didn't tell you?"

"I'd just rip it, since it's a lie…"

"You just proved your stamp is meaningless…" Azula let Toph yank the paper out of her hands.

"What's wrong with you?!"

Azula was glad the other woman couldn't see her flinch at that. That's what her mother always said… _What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?_

"No, I lied. It doesn't say that. It's what I was supposed to write," Azula said, stopping Toph just before ripping the paper. "But you can't know, can you?"

Toph hated the fact her sense was still nothing against Azula's lying.

"You're a special kind of wrong, aren't you? You enjoying this?"

"We're on the same side now. I just thought you'd like to know about the big exploitable flaw in your organization."

"If I want to hear your opinion in the future, I'll ask." Toph turned to the door. "Kun!"

A young man ran in and checked Azula's document. It was for the arrest of the man sitting next to her. Officer Kun took him away to lock him up at Toph's order, leaving the two women alone in the office.

"You're still here."

"That I am." Azula leaned into her chair too. "Do you know you have twenty policemen waiting in front of your door?"

"Yes, I'm quite busy."

"You're not busy, you're dreadfully organized." Azula made a disgusted expression. "These fill-out reports, the fact that _every_ case in the city needs approval from you directly, that you don't even have a secretary let alone a few of them with different jobs…"

Toph scuffed. "I told you I'm doing just fine."

"The fact that you couldn't tell if I was cheating you or not tells me otherwise."

"Look, I'm blind! I can't help it…" Toph lashed out, then turned her face away to hide the hurt written there. But Azula could see it just fine.

"So you have a weakness…" Azula started. "Congratulations, you share that with every other person on the planet."

"It's not a weakness! It used to be, but I turned it around and became the best earthbender in the world. Didn't you hear the stories?"

"Oh, I did… But there are some things you will never be able to do. No accepting that, pretending you're normal, that's your weakness. Shame."

"Shut up and get out."

But Azula couldn't yet. These days, if she broke someone, she didn't leave until they were put back together better.

"If you just kept walking around, not using your bending just pretending you can see, would you not hurt yourself?" Azula leaned forward, but remained in her chair. "You're doing the same thing with the documents now. You need someone to be your eyes and all your friends are too cowardly to tell you."

Toph's head slumped. "They _are_ soft about it. Like I'll break if they tell me anything."

"I think they're more worried about you doing the breaking." Azula smirked. "You think I like Zuko asking me if the _crazy_'s back every time I show an emotion? When people think of someone with mental issues, they think unreliable, danger to herself… I had to get people that would occasionally step in if I couldn't function. There's no shame in it. That's how I succeeded in managing more than a thousand ships and the people on them."

"But who can be trusted to be my eyes? They could then do what you did… Lie."

"I see you're thinking the right way, finally. You're correct. It is hard to get someone whom you'd trust absolutely." Azula got up and paced a bit. "That's why for you I'd suggest two people. Two eyes. Preferably people who despise each other, so will never be tempted to cheat you together. Have each of them constantly checking on the other, tell each of them they're your favorite and that you don't trust the other one."

"Thank you?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Did Zuko like ask you to come here? Oh, Spirits, it wasn't Katara, was it?"

"I didn't come here with an agenda, but…" Azula took a deep breath. She couldn't do _nice_, but she could do _honest_ and _helpful_. "I'm under a great deal of pressure and fixing things relaxes me."

"So you want me to give you the Police Force to fix?" Toph asked, slightly amused.

"It would be good practice… I will be Zuko's advisor for the perceivable future."

"Lucky him…"

"If after everything I told you with one look at the place, you can't admit you need the help…"

"I do." Toph murmured.

"I didn't quite get that…"

"I need the help."

"Good." Azula smiled. She did that a lot around Toph, since it couldn't be seen and ridiculed. "Let's get started then… I imagine you also run the police academy yourself?"

"I do."

"I should have gotten here sooner…" Azula shook her head. "I assume there is a kind of physical requirement to become an officer?"

"There's a test of physical aptitude. Running, jumping, carrying… I don't know what you're getting at."

"Excellent. And I suppose there are people that wish to become officers of the law, but fail this test?"

"Not a lot, but yes."

"Brilliant. They'll be the secretaries. They have the instinct to want to do their part to help the city, it'll just involve a lot more paper pushing than expected."

"That's actually-"

"Of course, it's a good idea. Let's go." Azula got up.

"Go where, Bossy?"

"To the academy, obviously." She started towards the door. "To pick them out. I'll read for you."

"I have twenty people waiting for me to hear them out."

"That is exactly the problem we'll be fixing. That nothing here can happen without you. Delegate and let's go." Azula left through the door and Toph followed reluctantly. The officers weren't at all pleased to see their chief leaving and even less so to see her leaving with Azula of all people.

The two of them spent the next few hours sifting through the files of every rejected applicant since the creation of the test. It would have been a rather boring affair, if Azula hadn't figured out pretty early Toph enjoyed making fun of silly strangers almost as much as she did. After that they got along splendidly, with Azula's favorite exchange without doubt following after Toph said:

"Our kids like each other." Azula'd been aware of the fact, but she still liked hearing it. "Su's been begging for the boy to visit."

"I'm sure he'd be thrilled to," she said, throwing away a useless file. "The children have been very accepting of him."

"Why wouldn't they be? He's a polite, friendly little princeling. Nothing like…"

"Me?" The remark should have probably made Azula mad, but it didn't. "It's alright, I know. But he never really could keep friends. Never his own age."

"Too brainy?" Toph asked. "She'd kill me if she knew I told you, but Su too. She's always been quick with things, but always lies about it. Lin's the honor roll student, but Su, Su's the above average one."

"I had no-"

"She's lazy with schoolwork and she's always asking Sokka to explain things to her, but I can sense she's lying that she's confused. One time, my home radio breaks down, I come back with a repair man only to find Su's fixed it already. And then she lies to my face that it was an accident."

Azula smirked to herself. "Zari wouldn't do that, exactly… But he would stare at the repair man working and ask him countless questions. _You do know that will electrocute you? Did you know there's a way to make the transmission three times better?_ It drives people mad… They just go _You wanna do it, kid?_"

Toph laughed, "Yeah, that'll get your nerves… Was his father like that?"

"Wen?" Azula was a bit startled by the question. "Yes and no. He was smart, but not like Zari. And it never stopped him from having hordes of friends. Everyone liked him…"

"It's settled then. We'll let the kids play together, your boy learns how to hide it from time to time, my girl learns to stop being embarrassed by it and everyone's happy."

The job they took upon themselves ended up lasting the entire day. When the sun set, they were already calling the picked-out applicants, or rather Toph was, using the speech Azula taught her.

"I am certain your help would prove invaluable to us here in the Republic City Police." Toph recited from memory into the radio. Then she felt Azula hit her foot into the ground and added, disgustedly, "Ask yourself, if your city is calling, can you, in good conscience, say no?"

Azula was glad the other woman couldn't see her mocking grin as she ate the last of the take-out they ordered.

"Sweet. Could you start tomorrow?" Toph improvised. "Awesome. Six o'clock."

"Another one?" Azula asked, after Toph hung up.

"Last one." She let her head fall to the desk. "Is that enough for today?"

"That is enough. For the perceivable future." Azula wrote something down then put the notebook away and focused on Toph's face. The woman looked a mix of worried and angry. "I don't get it… You're unhappy we can stop working and go back to our families? I can start nitpicking if you want."

"Was is that obvious that I can't handle it on my own?" Toph asked suddenly.

"I wouldn't say obvious… I used to recruit other leaders to follow me. I have a trained eye for these things." It didn't take a trained eye now to see Toph wasn't satisfied with that answer. "I'm sure in time, you would've-"

Toph waved the words away. "My parents came to visit since I went missing for a week. And the first thing my mother asks me is if I've given up on being a chief yet… Every time. Find a job more appropriate for your abilities, she says. Think of the girls. If my mother had her way, I'd be a stay at home mom, dressed in dainty little dresses."

"If my mother had her way, I'd be behind bars, dressed in a straitjacket."

"She's not the only one, you know…" Toph hesitated. "But not me anymore. Today's showed me that I like you much better on our side."

"I appreciate that, but as you said, not everyone feels that way."

"Screw them."

"Precisely… Screw them."

**oooooooooo**

_**Anyway, that is it for now. I don't think explanations are necessary for anything… Not really a lot to unpack here…**_

_**I thought it'd be cool if Su took after Sokka in the intelligence department. But even though she's super smart she'd far from nerdy.**_

_**I'll try to continue soon and any and all thoughts are welcome :)**_


	3. Sokka

_**Okay, next chapter… Next one is last.**_

_**Just a reminder that Suyin is always Sokka's daughter in my stories and so is she HERE. She just found out in the story before this.**_

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 3**

Deep breath.

_Nice_…

Azula knocked on a hotel room door. In a few seconds Sokka opened it, smiling warmly up until the moment he recognized her.

"You have my child," she said, matching his coldness with her tone.

"Yeah."

Azula tried to step inside, but he blocked her way and turned back into the room. "Zari, come, your mother's here…"

"Can we just finish the game?!" Su yelled from the floor where she and Zari were playing some weird board game.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Sokka said, still blocking Azula from entering.

"What do you think I'll do, huh?" she asked. "I can burn the place from the outside just as easily."

"Weird how you'd mention that…" Sokka didn't budge until Zari ran to them.

"I'm sorry, Mom. You weren't around so I asked Uncle Zuko if it was okay to stay here," the boy said.

"It's perfectly fine." She tried for a friendly smile again. "But we should go back to our room now. It's getting late."

Zari nodded and started walking towards the door when Su stopped him.

"Can I go with you then? We could finish playing there," she pleaded.

"We'd love to, but aren't you here to spend quality time with…" Azula let the door close behind her. "Your dad?"

"Uh-hm." Su's shoulders slumped as she looked at her shoes.

Sokka glanced at the clock, sighed and then reluctantly declared, "Finish your game. And that's it for tonight."

He wasn't even done talking Su already grabbed Zari's hand and dragged him to their board game.

"What did you do, Mother?" Zari asked, rolling a pair of dice.

"I went to visit Chief Toph and ended up doing some volunteer work for her."

"Yeah, right…" Sokka mumbled under his breath.

"My mom doesn't lie to me." Zari looked at the man.

"Of course not, love…" Azula said and pulled Sokka aside. "Hate me all you want, but not in front of my son. I can take it, he can't."

Sokka looked surprised hearing that. Guess, watching her care about another human being jarred him that much.

"Sokka, can we get a snack?" Su yelled from floor.

"You know, _Dad_'s okay while it's just us," he said, but got completely ignored. Zari shot his mother a questioning look while Sokka looked for some chips. She shrugged back at him.

"And what did you children do all day?" Azula asked.

"Bending and games." Zari grinned.

"We played Pai Sho until I got tired of losing," Su explained.

"Well, you'll get there, I'm sure. Zari practiced with me since he was very little." Azula sat on the couch, checking if it'll upset Sokka even more.

"But you're still the best, Mom." Zari said, like it was a cold hard fact.

"That is correct. But you're getting better every time, love, don't you worry."

"You're both wrong. Sokka's the best at Pai Sho," Su interrupted.

"The kid's right. I once beat Zuko's uncle Iroh." Sokka returned from the kitchen.

"Why didn't you open with that?! Is it just old, senile men you play with or are kindergarteners allowed as well? Ridiculous…"

"I'm serious. I'm amazing."

"And I'm sure you believe that." Azula smirked.

"You don't have to be evil to be smart, you know…"

"I think you're closer to evil than you are to smart."

Silence. That _nice_ really wasn't happening tonight… She was still socially exhausted from talking to Toph all day.

"Su, did you just start a new game?" Sokka noticed suddenly.

"No."

"I'm not dumb, you know… Come on, it's late. They have to go home."

"No! You just want them to leave because you don't like Azula!"

"Su, now don't-"

"I don't care! I don't even want to stay here! I want to go back to Mom…"

"It's the middle of the night. I'll take you in the morning, but now you will listen to-"

"I challenge you!" Azula cut in. All heads turned to her. Why? Why was she doing this to herself? "Pai Sho. Let's find out who's the best, right here, right now."

_Come on, dumbass… Take the out I served you. Take it._

"If you're so eager to lose, I'll get the board." Sokka left the room and returned seconds later with their aged set. As he prepared for the game, Su seemingly calmed down.

"I have to warn you, I played for Zari's name and won. And that was while nine months pregnant on a rocking ship in summer. I'll crush you in these conditions." Azula figured if she kept Sokka bickering with her, he couldn't make things worse with his daughter.

"Really?" Su asked.

"Yes. There was no way to know what kind of bender he'd be. I wanted a Fire Nation name, Zari, while his father wanted to name him after this hero from a Water Tribe folktale, Tulok."

"Did I ever say thank you for that, Mom?" Zari joked.

"I sometimes forget you're half Water Tribe… That's so weird." Su looked the boy up and down.

"Suyin, so are you." Sokka said, in a suddenly sad tone.

"Yeah, but that's not…"

"You're as much Water Tribe as Zari."

"You ready to start or what?" Azula broke the tension there again. But she won't always be there to do that. She let Sokka make the first move. It moved very fast at first, move after move with a lot of taunting and not much thinking, but soon it took both of them a few minutes to come up with a move and everyone was silent. It dragged on like that for more than an hour.

Zari sat next to his mother, watching the board carefully, even though they agreed the kids shouldn't help. Su leaned on her father and cheered every time he made a good move. Sokka couldn't help, but smile every time that happened and Azula was content. Helping them get along and winning at the same time.

"Worried, Princess?" Sokka spoke and that could only mean one thing. He only initiated conversation if he'd set a trap for her on the board and wanted to show her how _casual_ he was. She looked for it… There.

She was about to surprise him, but then Suyin said something.

"Can you teach me how to play sometime?"

"Sure," he was surprised, but loved every second of it.

"Thanks, Dad."

Azula was surprised he didn't burst into tears at that. Spirits know, he looked like he was close… She couldn't embarrass him now. Everyone who wanted to be a decent father should be allowed a chance. Azula hated it, but she moved the piece exactly how Sokka's trap demanded.

"Didn't see that coming now, did you?!" He punished her move.

Azula did her best impression of an absolutely blindsided person, while Su clapped. After that Sokka had her in three moves. He wasn't a bad player. He just wasn't as good as she was.

"I won," he realized. "I won! You see that, Su?"

"Ah, damn…" Azula slapped her knees in fake outrage while watching Sokka high five Su. Zari was giving her a weird look.

"That's how it's done in the Water Tribe! Isn't that right, Su?"

The girl's smile disappeared, and she started putting away the board. Sokka went to the kitchen to hide his annoyance.

Great. They were at it again…

"I saw you," Zari said so only his mother could hear. She pretended not to hear him. "You saw his move coming a mile away. Why did you lose on purpose? You taught me to never throw a game."

"If I said that then the only logical conclusion would be that Pai Sho is not the game I'm playing here tonight," she said.

"Then what? Can I help?"

"I'm not very liked here. It does you no good to be the smartest person in the room if no one will listen to you."

"I see."

Azula didn't really feel like explaining any further, since she wasn't really sure what she was doing either. She followed Sokka into the kitchen next and found him washing his face. _Honest_ worked with Katara. It worked with Toph. Maybe it just worked.

"You need to give her some space," Azula said. "I don't want to seem like I'm meddling, but-"

"You _are_ meddling. It's none of your business."

"It's not meddling. It's me seeing a disaster about to happen and not allowing it to."

"So my parenting is a disaster?!" He turned violently.

"Tonight, it is. Lower your voice." She took a step closer. "She needs some time to get used to the idea."

"What's there to get used to… You don't know what you're talking about. She didn't know I was her father, but I never abandoned her. I was here for Su, and her sister, whenever I could, whenever they needed me."

"I believe you." His face displayed emption after emotion clearly, like I child would. Azula didn't like it. "But it's not just about you… Who your parents are, where you come from, it's who you are. Su's simply getting used to this new information about who she really is."

"But nothing really needs to change."

"You're wrong. I'm the first one that would love it if who our parents are didn't matter, but it does. So keep that Water Tribe hothead away and she'll come around on everything soon enough."

Sokka smiled and then realized who he was taking advice from. He still had issues with welcoming her into their group, but Azula felt she made a giant step forward just then.

"If you're playing us again, that's going to cheapen this moment significantly," he said.

"I'm not."

He looked straight into her eyes, like he could tell is she was indeed lying. Which she wasn't.

"Could I ask you for a favor?" he spoke again. "Could you let Zari sleep over? I think it'll give me and Su less chance to fight."

"If you'll keep an open mind, I think I might have a superior proposal."

**oooooooooo**

"And?" Azula asked, keeping her eyes on where Zari and Su were goofing about, bending at each other. Even though it was the middle of the night, all four of them were at Air Temple Island and Sokka had just emerged from the building.

"I woke up Katara, like you said, expecting to get snowed on. But as soon as I said _you_ needed Oogi she said okay?"

"What can I say? She's warming up to me a little." Azula shrugged, a little relieved. She wasn't actually sure that's how it would play out.

"Warming up? She offered me cookies to take with us. That's like, as warm as you can get with my sister." He climbed on Oogi. "Kids, we're going!"

Su threw one last rock at Zari to slow him and then raced to the bison. Zari gracefully dusted his clothes and stopped next to his mother.

"Could we possibly visit Dad's village?" he asked.

"I'd like to, but not today." Denying him hurt Azula. "We don't want anyone recognizing their chief, so we'll just have a quiet day in the wilderness."

The boy nodded sadly and moved on. Earlier that evening Azula suggested Sokka could take Suyin on a quick visit to the South Pole, just to make her feel connected to her roots. Away from the people, away from his responsibilities as Chief, just the two of them and their homeland. Su agreed only if Zari could go with them and Azula agreed to let him only if she tagged along.

"If this is some kind of elaborate trap…" Sokka leaned closer to her. "Katara knows where we're going, and they'll know it's you."

She rolled her eyes at that comment, but she was a bit worried he remained angry at her. She just couldn't find the right angle with him.

"Same if it's your trap for me. Zuko knows."

Yes. That worked. He liked it.

He acted like she wanted to go picnicking with him into the wilderness… Their children liked each other so they were stuck together. She didn't trust him completely either. She could see his side, though, but he wasn't trying to see hers in the slightest.

While Sokka took control of Oogi's reins, the children sat away from Azula, whispering and giggling uncontrollably. Luckily, Azula brought a book since she knew Sokka wouldn't want to engage in pleasantries.

"Don't you think it's time to go to sleep, Su?" Sokka asked after a while. She ignored him. "Azula?"

"They are old and smart enough to understand what a lack of sleep means for the human body," she said, flipping a page and adjusting the flame in her hand for more light.

"I am rather tired." Zari said and wished everyone a good night. Su protested a bit, and then stayed awake out of pure defiance. Just when Azula thought the girl might fall asleep out of sheer boredom, she came to her with a question.

"Can I braid your hair?"

Azula was taken aback.

"Su, just go to sleep!" Sokka raised his voice, forgetting the little prince was asleep.

"Maybe she wants me to!" Su yelled back and turned to wait for the answer.

"I… I don't really let it down… Ever. But if it'll entertain you…"

"It will." Su positioned herself so that he had a good view of Azula's har, just as the woman released her long, black hair from her top-knot. "You're so pretty."

Azula struggled for an answer before deciding to keep it simple. "As are you."

Su worked in relative silence for the following minutes, carefully and gently crafting braid after braid and then connecting them all. No one, except her son, really dared get that close to Azula and Su did it with such ease. It delighted Azula after the welcome she got in Republic City. It worried Sokka.

When he turned around to say something his mouth fell open finding Su sleeping soundly leaning on Azula.

"That's why I keep my hair up," she answered his stare. "It creates a distance, an unapproachability. Now look at me."

After a beat they both laughed. Azula decided to give into sleep as well to avoid accidentally waking the girl. It was morning before she knew it. The first thing she did after opening her eyes was check her right shoulder for the sleeping creature. The girl wasn't there. This made Azula completely alert in under a second and allowed her to realize Su was safe and sitting next to her father, while they searched for a good place to land.

They chose a little clearing surrounded by forest and soon all four of them were trudging through snow. Suyin and Sokka immediately wrapped themselves in thick fur coats, while Azula and Zari made do with lighter ones, since they were both proficient at keeping their temperature up with their bending.

"Home sweet home, huh, Sokka?" Azula teased when the man almost fell down from slipping on a sheet of ice. He was in the middle of lecturing Su on all the dangers of being outside in cold weather. It was like he wanted to make it sound as boring as possible.

"You see, it's the last place on the planet where one can get some peace and quiet. Except perhaps the desert…" Azula said.

"I just love snow." Zari turned skyward to watch it fall, stopping individual snowflakes by blowing a stream of fire their way.

"You kept my braids?" Su asked, noticing Azula's hair was just as she'd left it before going to sleep. Although, Su's work wasn't perfect and strands of hair were already loose here and there. Azula endured it.

"Of course. There's no more Water Tribe appropriate hairstyle… It's on theme."

"Really?"

Azula hoped Sokka was at least watching and learning. This is how you do it… You find something they like and use it to ease them into what you need them to learn about. You can't just yell facts at children…

"It's too bad my hair's too short." Su added.

"Nonsense. My husband had shorter hair and always managed to sneak tiny, messy braids in there…"

"Can you do it?"

"Not really," Azula lied. "But I'm sure your dad is more than capable."

"Can you, Dad?" She turned to the man.

"Um… Yes, yes, of course."

While Sokka fumbled with the girl's hair, Zari got a fire going. Then stared into in and made it burn blue, then raise to form all kinds of shapes. A dragon, then a wolf. A tree, a dragon again and then a giant bird. Su came to admire it soon and the two kids started a snowball fight while the parents watched for afar, seated on an overturned tree trunk.

"I've been a useless father," Sokka said all of a sudden.

"Self-pity is neither original, helpful nor interesting…" Azula tried _honest_ again, but it was coming out more like _harsh_.

"No, it's true. I could have been taking her on trips like these the whole time. Katara's kids too. I could have been forming a bond, but I was just obsessed with keeping it secret. She would have understood if I'd told her years ago…"

"Yeah… Why _did_ you and Toph keep it secret?" Azula asked and got a look. "If you don't want to tell me-"

"We started lying to protect certain people's feelings, but by the time Su was born… We decided our duties didn't allow us to live together. And there would be the gossip, the questions about our ability to be objective when we worked together… Not to mention, as a Chief, Su would be my heir and I didn't want to put that on her before she was old enough to know what she wanted to do with her life."

"Well, I can at least understand that…" Azula looked to where Su was shoving show into Zari's face, both laughing so much it was hard to breathe. "I didn't exactly love telling Zari about our family's role in the war, about _my_ role, but I made myself because that truth belonged to him, just as much as it belonged to me."

"You really are different now, aren't you?" He looked to the side.

"Is that really so hard to accept? That I showed some character growth in thirty years?"

"Don't you get why that's so hard to accept for all of us? I though you were good with people now."

"I presume because I did some despicable things, I-"

"No! It's just… If you're really changed now, that means you had the ability to change the entire time. That means that instead of locking you up, we should have been trying to help you. But we went the easy route, declared you beyond help and forgot about you." He made eye contact then.

Azula was stunned. "So is that what you want? Absolution?" She watched his reaction carefully. "It wasn't on you to save me. Any of you. There. You may be free of this guilt." She waved her hand towards him like she was preforming a magic trick.

"No, you're already helping enough. Let it sting a little longer."

"You people are absurd… You all feel this way?"

"We didn't exactly discuss it, and I am far more self-reflective than the rest of them, but yes."

Azula gave it some thought over a quiet half minute. "It makes sense for Zuko. I'm his sister and he's always had a weird need to make my business his own because of that. But the rest of you never owned me a thing… You want to know my theory?" She was still working on it, but why not… Sokka seemed to have enough intelligence to at least grasp what she was trying to convey, if not offer some original input.

"Do share."

"I imagine a great many people tried to kill you over the years."

"Team Avatar? So many…"

"Right. And if you're anything like me they all start to blend together. The smart, the exceptionally evil, the talented, the mentally unstable…" She glanced to the children to make sure they weren't listening. "And you dealt with all of them. I'm certain you tried to save those that could be saved, but most… Beyond that."

He looked away again. Like a child…

"I don't think your anger is about me at all, or even guilt," she continued. "I think my return reminded you that you could be wrong about someone. And if you made a mistake dooming me, then how many more did you make? How many people could have been fixed, given a chance? I think you're not mad I'm suddenly a good guy, you're mad because you aren't sure if you still are. How close am I?"

Silence. Azula couldn't stand it, but couldn't bring herself to break it.

"Zari! Suyin!" she called, and the kids ran to her. "What do you say, we catch our dinner instead of eating those dreadful supplies?"

They nodded.

"Excellent," she added. "Zari, you take point. Don't go too far, those woods look like-"

"Excuse me, you're sending _them_?" Sokka interrupted.

"And how old were you when you went to hunt your own food? Zari's had some semi-decent training, they'll be fine. He can even teach Su some things, right?"

"Right. But I'm a far better fisherman."

"Can we, Dad? It sounds like fun…"

With three sets of eyes on him, Sokka buckled easy. "If you're all sure."

"Alright. You'll be back before dark, with or without a catch…"

"We'll be back before dark, with or without a catch." Zari repeated his mother's words like he knew she wanted. Su caught on and joined halfway through.

"You won't separate for any reason," Azula said next.

"We won't separate for any reason," the children echoed.

"Alright, go. And run right back if the weather turns."

"Yes, Sifu," Zari said before they scurried for the tree line.

"Sifu?" Sokka turned to Azula in mild confusion.

"He calls me that when we're training," she explained. "And when I annoy him."

He laughed slightly.

"What?" she interrupted. "It's important to have your own language with them. To understand each other. You'll get that with Suyin, you'll see."

"I just find it funny how you raised your kid to belong in the South Pole better than I did."

Her first instinct was to deny it. He would have liked to hear that, but she decided she'd go with _honest_ again.

"That's because it was important to me. I put time and effort into it, Sokka. You think he was born like that? He wasn't. His father never got a chance to grow up amongst his people, then he was taken away too early to teach Zari anything. So I had to drag the two of us camping and on hunting trips… You think I enjoyed freezing my bones, trudging through deep snow day after day? No. But I wanted to do it and he felt that. They always know when you're half-assing and you've been doing just that with your parenting in general."

"What? Don't assume you know-"

"I've heard plenty from you in the last day. Everything you say is…" She took on an annoyingly girly voice. "_Uh, I'm her father, I'm not her father… I can't stay, but I want to be included in everything… I want us to have an unbreakable bond the first day, but I want Toph to do all the work… Uh, uh, it's so hard…_"

"Stop it."

"You want her to treat you like her father, then be her father." Azula's tone went dead serious. "No more half-assing. Can't live with her? Set up a radio where she can call you. Schedule visits and then actually show up. Find things you both enjoy doing and you'll never have problems getting a conversation going. Just make up your mind, and start being her dad!"

"I get it, I get it… You're right!" He waved for her to stop. "I've been half-assing. I'll do better!"

"Of course, you will," she said and there was a short pause while they watched the snow fall. Then they heard screaming from the woods. It was Su. They both jumped to their feet and then saw the little girl sprinting from the tree line and into the clearing. The only two words they could make out were _Zari_ and _help_.

Azula used her fire to help herself reach the girl faster.

"Zari, he stayed… There was a… A big bear!" Su was catching he breath pointing a shaky hand deeper into the forest. Then they heard thunder and a lightning bolt shot from the ground towards the sky not that far from them.

"Zari!" Azula ran towards where the light was just a few seconds ago. Sokka followed, only after checking Su was unharmed.

They found Zari pinned between a big rock and a very angry, snow white, polar bear with blood dripping from its mouth. The boy was waving his hands around, trying to scare the animal away with his blue flames.

"What in the world is that?!" Sokka was from here, but he was still amazed at the animal's size. "That's the biggest wolf bear I've ever seen!"

Azula lunged forward, nearly escaping the bear's claw and placed herself between her son and it.

"Or maybe it's a polar bear dog?" Sokka thought out loud.

"It's just a polar bear!" Zari grabbed his mother's lightning hand. "That's why you can't kill it. There are barely any left in the world."

"Love, if I don't kill it, it'll-" Azula pushed Zari aside and then followed as the animal lunged for them.

"We were tracking an arctic hen, but the bear got to it before us and then just attacked for no reason." Su explained.

Azula made a wall of blue fire and lead Zari to where Sokka and Su were standing. The bear found them again quickly and they all took their fighting stances, Sokka drawing out his boomerang.

"How fast is it? Can we outrun it?" Azula asked.

"I have no idea, I've never seen one," Sokka said dodging the bears paw and shielding Su.

"Wasn't asking you, genius." Azula followed as they all retreated backwards.

"No, we cannot." Zari said with deadly certainty. "But we can't kill it! There are so few of them left…"

"Zari, I'm sorry, I really am, but-"

"Please, Dad, Azula, can we not kill it?! This is its home!" Su begged. Sokka looked over to Azula.

"What do you want me to do? It's not scared of fire."

"Or earthquakes," Su added.

"Then what is it scared off?" Sokka asked.

Zari heard the words and thought back to the book he read about the South Pole's fauna. He slipped out of his mother's grip and stood in front of the beast again. Then he threw his head back and howled as loud as his lungs would allow him.

"Zari, what-" Azula was interrupted when Su joined her son and howled too. Then, quiet at first, came the reply.

Another howl, from a real wolf in the mountains. Then more, from all directions, close, far, long, short…

Azula howled too and so did Sokka as more and more real packs of wolves joined in. The bear had stopped attacking when the first real wolf sounded, but it was completely retreating now. It made a few angry roars at the sky and then turned and started leaving.

Zari and Su were smiling like crazy, but no one looked happier than Sokka. He immediately grabbed hold of Su and spun her around. Azula placed a hand on her son's shoulder to feel he was alright. They watched the bear walk away, only to stop at a bush in the distance. Then they saw them. Three little, snow white cubs. They clumsily followed after their mother as they disappeared back into the forest.

"I love this palace, Dad!" Su yelled, then pulled Zari forward by his sleeve. "Let's go back, Wolf Boy."

Sokka watched as the kids sprinted towards the clearing. "You think we should-"

"Get out of here because there are so many wolves? You read my mind."

"Yes! I mean, I'll never be able to walk through the forest the same way…" he said and Azula snorted with laughter. "And Azula… Thanks."

**oooooooooo**

_**Third adventure finished. This one was a bit longer and maybe the only one that's an actual TRIP, the others would be better characterized as talks…**_

_**I loved the trip to the wilderness idea for them because Azula being a good parent is basically my whole fanfiction life now…**_

_**Anyway, last part in a few days.**_

_**Thanks for the comments I already got :) And fell welcome to leave one if you have anything to say…**_


	4. Aang

_**Last chapter, I hope you'll like it.**_

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 4**

"Oogi! You're back!" Tenzin ran to meet his sky bison as soon as it landed.

"I told him, you'd have him back in one piece, but…" Lin shrugged, seeing she had Azula's attention.

"Men…" the woman mocked.

"Exactly." Lin rolled her eyes and went to where her boyfriend was petting the large animal.

"Who's ready to eat finally?!" Sokka asked, getting off the bison. Su and Zari answered with an exhausted groan. "Come on, I'll show you how to successfully mooch off Aunt Katara…"

"He is the leading world expert. You should listen to him," Azula said.

"I'll feed them and then bring Zari back, deal?" Sokka asked now that the kids headed towards the building.

"If they're not too tired, you can do something with them. Just don't let them near bears…"

"That's always sound advice. You sure you're okay with that?"

"Of course. I wanted to do some quiet reading." She wasn't okay. She hated it, but a big part of why she went out of hiding was that Zari could have this. Friends, play dates and a childhood resembling normal.

Oogi flew off with the young couple, and just as Sokka made it into the main building, another sky bison landed not far from Azula. The Avatar was back. He didn't see her at first and he definitely wasn't expecting her in his garden. For a second, she was sure he would miss her altogether and just keep walking, but then he stopped cold and froze his gaze on her.

"Avatar." She could clearly see that he still wasn't used to seeing her around his home.

"Azula, what- Is Zuko here?"

"No, I'm on my own," she said. "I trust you've had a successful trip?"

This was how you did _nice_, right?

"Longer than I expected… What are you doing back here?" He tried to appear angry, but looked entirely too tired to make it believable.

Just when Azula was about to go into a tangent explaining everything that happened since he was gone, two air acolytes ran to the Avatar with a glass of water and a basket of fresh fruit.

"Katara will be overjoyed to hear you've returned!" one of the girls cooed while Aang gulped the water down.

"Tell her I'll come home after I settle one last thing here in the city. Might take till tomorrow morning." He took a papaya from them and bit down like he hadn't eaten since that party a day and a half ago.

"It's not something bad, is it?" the other girl asked.

"A young girl's been kidnapped. It's serious and cannot wait."

The girls nodded and scurried back to the building, presumably to report to Katara. He didn't even go in to tell her himself… Azula could see the woman wasn't exaggerating that much.

"Sorry, I… Overheard," she started, now that it was just her and Aang again. "I'm new to the ways here in this city… Shouldn't the Chief of Police handle one abducted child?"

It might come off meddlesome again, but Azula really wanted him to find out how much she helped Toph as soon as possible. She put in the work, it wasn't so bad to want just a little bit of credit for it.

"I called," he said. "She said something about reorganizing the Police Force and that I should man up and handle it alone."

He took one last bite to finish the fruit, tossed away the remains and then turned towards the boat off the island.

"Come on," he called for her without turning around. "I'll return you to Zuko."

Of course, he couldn't have a _monster_ roaming his island…

"And then what? Scold him? I'd like to see that…"

He ignored her words and waited at the pier until she joined him. Then he jumped into the small boat next to the oars boy.

"Hey, kid," Azula said. It was the same one she'd talked to the first night. And a few times since then, actually. Although, his attitude towards her was a bit changed.

"Princess Azula, allow me!" The boy stood up and helped her into the boat then started rowing.

"Didn't I tell you she wasn't allowed back?" Aang asked the boy.

"I don't recall, Sir," he said then winked at Azula, "Important mission, Sir?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. A triad leader's daughter has been kidnapped and he's accused another triad's leader."

Triads? Criminals bickering with one another? Now that, that was something Azula could help with.

"You're thinking it could go to war between the triads?" she asked.

"Of course not. No one wants that. If I offer them a peaceful solution, I'm sure they'll take it. Conflict resolution is what I do."

"Maybe with regular people. But organized crime? That's my world. Would you consider taking me with?"

If the city erupted into chaos a day after she arrived for the first time, Zuko would find a way to blame her. She needed this cleared and the Avatar looked less than ready for the ordeal. She'd almost prefer to go alone.

"The leaders agreed to meet one another in one of the most dangerous places in the city. Maybe in the world." Aang didn't exactly say _no_, but that was what he meant.

"Then you make it the _most_ dangerous place in the world, and bring me."

**oooooooooo**

Azula was still wildly new to the city, but even she could sense the street where Aang was leading her was not a place where good things happened. There were almost no pedestrians at the moment, no traffic, all the shops and restaurants were closed, and a large group of people stood in the middle of the street in a circle.

Aang attempted to cross into the middle of the crowd, but a man shoved him back.

"No one wants you here! You'll just side with them, you always side with them!" he yelled.

"Calm yourself. I'm here to-"

"You love the Water Folk so much, you married one of them!"

"Enough. He would have brought her and not me, if he didn't want to be impartial." Azula said and immediately a girl pointed a flaming fist at her.

"And who are you?" the girl asked with such condescension. The kids these days…

"That question speaks more about your education than my significance." Azula focused her eyes on the flaming fist and turned the flames blue, causing the girl to scream out in pain and put the fire out. "Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. Empress of the Blue Flag Fleet. The Sea Dragon. And your salvation…"

The crowd slowly parted and Azula walked towards the center followed by Aang.

"One of you waterbenders, do fix that burn I made, or I'll be forced to make others."

"You can't burn people for no reason, Azula." Aang whispered.

"I burned one girl, slightly. They were ready for open conflict. How many people would your Avatar state hurt while you were fighting for your life?"

"Still. That's not how things are done…"

"It is. If you already have a reputation, it only takes one little injury to remind everyone of what it is."

Aang wanted to say something to that, but Azula stepped away from him and towards the two triad leaders arguing in the center of the crowd.

The louder one was the boss of the Agni Kai Triad, an overweight, pale man with incredibly vicious golden eyes. Aang told her on the boat his name was Sho and that he was quick to start generating lightning if he felt threatened. However, currently the large man was squeezed into a cheap suit and shoving a finger in the other leader's direction.

The Red Monsoon Triad had a female leader, a rarity, Aang assured Azula. Her name was Kirima and she was a properly terrifying woman at first glance. She wore no sleeves to flaunt her numerous tattoos, all depicting the moon or red water, probably implying she was a bloodbender. But Azula knew from her husband that anyone who ever tried the actual practice wouldn't happily be painting it on their skin.

"What seems to be the problem?" Azula asked before being pulled back by the Avatar.

"Thank you, but I've got it from here."

"Oh, you do? Go ahead then." She gestured to the leaders overdramatically. "I'll just watch and _learn_."

She leaned her head on her hand like she was paying incredible attention and Aang cleared his throat before turning to the now silent leaders.

"How can I help?" he asked, and both the man and the woman erupted into yelling again.

"This bitch took my daughter! We were at peace and she took my little girl!" Sho insisted.

"What would I do with your spawn?! He hid his daughter to start a war, because he's insane! The one who's missing is my son!"

"If you think I have your boy, why don't you come to our side of the street and look?! We'd love to welcome you!"

"You'd love it if it was us who broke the peace, not you damn ashmakers!"

"You're the one that broke the peace when you took my daughter!"

"People, please! Yelling won't solve anything… You need to be patient and let me hear both sides." Aang managed to get a few sentences in finally. "Tell me about your daughter."

"My Ren…" begun Sho. "My oldest, just turned fifteen, my pride and glory. She went to school and never came back. One of my guys saw her being led away by one of your Water Tribe tugs. So don't insult me by lying to my face!"

"So you kidnapped my son on the words of one man?! You think that is justice, Avatar?" Kirima turned to Aang briefly, but didn't give him time to say anything. "My only son! He would take my place one day, and you couldn't take that, could you?! You looked for any excuse to get rid of him! If he's found dead in the next couple of days, I will blame you!"

"I didn't take your little psychopath! I'm getting tired of this!"

Azula saw Sho make a few sparks in his palm behind his back. He was very subtle, any less experienced bender wouldn't have noticed. She lunged forward and grabbed hold of his hand, sending the lighting towards the sky.

"You snake!" Kirima bended out her water and prepared for an attack, when Aang put himself in between the two. His eyes locked with Azula's. It felt like hers were asking: _Do you want my help now?_

Aang nodded.

"Please, calm down. We all love our children," he said.

"No, Aang… These two do not." Azula stepped next to him. "If they did, they wouldn't be here arguing about war, when it could only bring their children death if it happened."

"You listen to me!"

"Watch your tongue!"

"I'm just pulling conclusions from what you're showing me." Azula said, internally happy to see the two people staring at her in anger rather than at each other. Unite them in anger, check. "You know what I think? I think this isn't about your children at all… I think your triads have been preparing for war for so long it's was just a question of the spark. If you want out of this situation, with your children unharmed, we are going to have to talk about why you want to kill each other."

"_Why_?! What kind of question is that?" Kirima spoke first. "Our triad was founded to protect our community while we're forced to live next to them!"

Azula was amazed the woman was prepared to display such direct hate towards firebenders while looking her in the eye.

"Protection from us?!" Sho cut in. "Our people needed protecting from you!"

"You just won't admit you want the world to go back to what it was, firebenders stepping on everyone else!"

"If that'll keep your blood-monsters at bay, maybe I do!"

"Enough." Azula rolled here eyes for show. "You say you do this for safety, you say you do this for your people, but are they safe? Are your children safe? Little Ren?" She turned to look at Sho, then at the Kirima. "Your boy?"

They both fell quiet for a few moments. Shake their motivations, check.

"She's right," Sho broke the silence. "You don't touch mine, I don't touch yours. And you give me my daughter back." He offered his hand to his enemy.

"You don't touch mine, I don't touch yours." She nodded and shook his hand.

"Great!" Aang suddenly managed to break out of his stunned silence. "We have peace, now we just need to arrange when and where will we exchange the kids."

"About that… I really don't have your daughter," Kirima said.

"What?" Aang sighed.

"I don't know what his man saw, but I didn't order it. I have no idea where she is. I am sorry. I'd still like my son back."

"I don't have your son!" Sho screamed and they were back where they've started. Aang looked back at Azula who'd totally tuned out of the conversation.

"How old is the boy?" Azula suddenly asked.

"Sixteen," Kirima answered. "He just finished school, first in our family. Before this tug…"

Aang tuned out the rest. Azula was smirking. What exactly about missing children was so amusing?

"None of you get it, do you? It's like you were never young…" Azula stepped in between them. "They ran away. Together." She allowed them a few seconds to process the information. No one was more shocked than the Avatar.

"My daughter would never-"

"But she did. Your people saw her with a waterbender. That was probably her son. And he just finished school. That means they would no longer be able to see each other there." Azula smiled again. "Fire girl, water boy, it happens."

Soon after the triad leaders stopped denying the obvious, the search parties were united into one and Azula and Aang joined. They couldn't have any other conflicts breaking out after the children were found.

"Thank you." Aang said, while walking next to Azula.

"What was that, Avatar?"

"I am thankful for your help. You have a certain way with these people…"

"You could too, you know."

"Oh, no. I couldn't…"

"You're good, you've got one decent reputation… You just need to be a tad bit firmer with them."

"I… I can't just hurt someone who didn't attack me first. I won't," he said almost apologetically.

"You don't have to. Did you notice how I mentioned the possibility of their children dying multiple times? You have to make it seem like the only way to avoid that outcome is to listen to you."

"That's called threatening."

"That's how you get results."

"That doesn't mean it's right. Hearing your child might be dead because of you… I can think of no harsher thing to say to a person."

"Then you lack imagination… It would do you good to be less emotionally invested in these things." she said, before a sudden pause when they thought they've found the children.

"It is impressive how you singled out the source of the conflict so easily," Aang said, and Azula almost smiled.

"You destroy the roots. Anything else is for fools."

Aang wanted to add something, but Azula looked forwards as the people at the beginning of the crowd yelled something. They saw a Fire Nation girl and a Water Tribe boy come out from under a bridge, holding hands. Spirits, they were young…

"No, Father! I'm not going home without Yuka!" the girl insisted, grasping the tattooed arm of the young man next to her.

"You're embarrassing the family! Get over here right now!" Kirima gestured for Yuka to approach. He stood his ground, shielding the girl with his other hand.

"You're coming back home, Ren! And you're never seeing him again! Actually, you're never seeing sunlight again, after pulling this!" Sho screamed and soon, their men started approaching to separate the pair. Azula watched and tried to remain calm, but as she looked at the two kids all she could see was her and Wen. Her and Wen facing two armies of men much stronger than they were. Her and Wen clutching each other so hard it hurt. Her and Wen being separated possibly forever.

"Wait! Wait!" She ran through the crowd and stood in front of the teenagers. "I'm intervening in the Avatar's name! Stand down!"

Aang looked at her in confusion, but didn't say anything.

"The Avatar wishes to take them under his protection!" She yelled and was immediately met with the parents' refusal. "He's starting a new youth program, he wants them to be a part of it."

Azula knew deep down, that the optimal solution was to return the children to their parents and celebrate that a temporary peace was agreed upon. But she couldn't do that.

"I don't care who he is, he can't take our kids!" Sho insisted and Azula knew he had a point.

"Think about it," she continued. "True safety. Who can offer you that, but the Avatar? If you agree your children would be safe. And happy." _And together_, she thought.

Aang didn't dare contradict her, he just listened as she got each of the parents to agree then reassured the kids that everything will be better from now on. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't find Azula alone until they made it to Air Temple Island and the kids were sent inside to get a warm meal.

"So that advice about keeping a distance emotionally…"

"Oh, shut up." Azula snapped at him, but smiled. "It's right. I just choose to not follow it sometimes."

"Maybe that's a lesson in itself. Maybe I should try distancing myself on occasion, just like you sometimes don't."

"So the lesson is that we should both be hypocrites?"

"The lesson is that we should both be human."

"That is true." Azula sighed. "You go in there with a bunch of proverbs and quoting laws, but not everyone responds to that. And what is more human than figuring out what their biggest fear is and telling them that if they let you, you'll do anything to stop it from happening?"

Aang nodded silently. He agreed. With _Azula_…

"Anyway," Azula said, turning away. "Remember that. I won't always be there to save your ass."

And with that she left the island.

**oooooooooo**

After two days away from his nation, Zuko knew it was time to return. He watched as servants emptied his Presidential Suite and carried his luggage downstairs to be brought to his ship. He was in a good mood, since he'd be seeing his wife in a short while, so he decided to hurry things up and go see how far along his sister was with packing.

He entered the junior suite and immediately saw Azula, sitting on the large bed, dressed for travel. That was good. What blew him away as he got closer, was that she was surrounded by servant girls, sitting on the bed or floor, smiling.

"That's just it, Nao. You have to tell _him_ that." Azula spoke, looking to one of the young girls sitting on the rug. "I want to hear how it went when I return to the city. Although, it's rather obvious how it's going to play out."

A few of the girls giggled and the one in the center of attention covered her face with her hands to hide her wide smile.

"Am I interrupting?" Zuko asked, even though it was rather obvious he was. Seeing him was enough to wipe all the smiles from the girls' faces as they got up, bowed their heads and started exiting the room.

"Good luck." Azula mouthed to the one girl just as she left the room and shut the door.

"What do you want, Zuzu? You said noon, and it is indisputably not noon. It wasn't my intention to stall our return, I simply-" She was stunned to silence when her brother walked across the room directly into her and hugged her.

"You have three seconds," she said, but hugged back carefully when the shock started wearing off.

"Thank you." He didn't want to test her three seconds rule, so he let go.

"For what?"

"Modesty, Azula? Who even are you?" He felt like hugging his little sister again, but he wouldn't push his luck. "I talked to my friends. They all have radically changed their opinions of you… So I want to know what you did. Or actually, now that I think about it… I don't want to know. Just, thank you."

"You said it was important to have them on our side, so I made an effort." But it wasn't exactly true… She'd made an effort the other night at the party, too, and it was a disaster. These other times, she was just herself and, well, they seemed to like that far more than her _nice_ version.

"Yes, I figured that, but at the party… They wouldn't even talk to you."

"I spent the last thirty years making allies out of every band of criminals I came across. It was an adjustment, but it's the same formula."

"I knew you changed in all this time, but this…" He sat down next to her. "It definitely proves it. I mean, you know who you remind me of?"

"If you say Father, I'll be forced to-"

"Uncle Iroh."

There was a short silence.

"That's the most offensive thing anyone's ever said to me," Azula said finally, not really making known if she was joking or not. "And it's a complete and utter lie."

"Let's look at the evidence, shall we? Terrible war past, lost a loved one." He counted his points on fingers. "And most importantly, makes friends out of people extremely effectively, regardless of their social stature or previous perceptions of you."

Azula gave it some thought… She wasn't like Iroh…

"You're just cherry picking the examples… Uncle liked embarrassing songs and dull proverbs and hung around with…"

Peasants. But so did she… Falling in love with one really changes one's perspective on the whole thing. She now preferred chatting with them, especially if they knew more about Azula the Pirate Empress, than Azula the Princess…

"So you're the more elegant, female version…" Zuko wasn't letting up. "Aang told me you talked to the man driving the boat from the Island a few times, after which he quit his job."

"Here. See? I'm terrible."

"He quit to pursue his singing career. And that's not all… The servant women here. I think I heard you refer to one by her _name_ and we've only been here a few days… And they tell me you've been invited to a teen wedding?"

"Alright, stop! Stop! I admit your theory isn't totally without empirical evidence, now can we go?" She stood up.

"We can, but I just need to give something over to Aang and Katara before leaving."

"And you couldn't have done that before coming to get me? Dumbass."

**oooooooooo**

Azula found herself actually liking the children of Team Avatar, so she was glad to get a chance to say goodbye to them. She really liked them, she actually knew all their names and everything…

But she suspected it might not be possible when her and Zuko arrived on Air Temple Island. Aang's Appa was lazily chewing on hay next to the house, but Tenzin's Oogi was gone. The children were probably on some kind of adventure again, she thought… Or maybe, their parents didn't want them seeing Azula, even after everything she'd done for them.

Once inside Zuko ran to the main room and Azula followed casually, only to be stunned when she entered. The decorations from the party were back and the entire Team Avatar was standing together, waiting for her under a big banner that read SORRY.

_What's this?_ She wanted to ask, but just couldn't.

She found herself speechless as she took all of it in, the room, their faces, the simple word.

"Surprise." Zuko smiled back at her.

"Zuzu, did you just successfully lie to me to get me here?" she asked.

"Guess, I did."

"Good for you."

"Azula," started Katara. "We all wanted to apologize for our dreadful behavior the other night. We acted like-"

"Kids at a playground." Aang helped her.

"Complete asses." Toph corrected and Sokka nodded along. "And we wanted to make it up to you…"

"So we threw together another party." Katara said and Azula noticed only then, the woman and her husband were holding hands.

"And we'll be more than happy to let you and your son stay in Republic City while Zuko works on lowering tensions in the capital." he said, and turned to look at his wife with a smile. Guess, Azula's advice helped at least a little bit.

"Um… Well, thank you…" Azula started finally, with five beaming faces staring at her. "But I really think it'd be best if I left with Zuko to help."

She knew she'd gotten some points with these people over the last couple of days, but she wasn't aware she'd be getting an apology and a party. It was stupid and sentimental and childish and she liked it somehow. That they spent their limited time as world leaders, trying to make amends to her for a few mean words after she tried to kill them multiple times. But that was just who these people were… She found it ridiculous, but also saw why Zuko would like it.

"I can handle myself," he said.

"I know, but if we want the people to accept my return, I can't be hiding."

"I can respect that," Sokka answered before Zuko could. "But at least stay for the party, Azula."

"About that… I'm not much for dancing, or drinking, or…" _Or being social_, she thought.

"That's just the thing," Toph said.

"We made it in a way you'd like," Katara cut in. "We asked Zari what you'd enjoy… So we sent the kids to get ice cream with Bumi while we have tea on the porch."

They moved aside, revealing the open back door and a small table set outside in the shade. It held a teapot, little mugs and an insufferably kitschy tablecloth.

"Zari told you I'd like this?" Azula asked, trying not to show her… Reluctance?

"Not exactly." Sokka shrugged.

"He said you'd like if there was no party and no surprise, but then we compromised, and he suggested this." Aang gestured to the table.

Great…

Azula wanted to just walk away with a murmured _No, thank you…_ But she didn't. She knew how hard it was to force yourself to be _nice_ to someone whom you despised. Only these people didn't seem to be having that problem. Was it possible they'd already forgiven her?

No, she found out during the tea party. It was a very pleasant affair. They told stories to each other, even laughed a few times, but Azula couldn't help but notice the little things. How Katara winced ever time Azula made a quick movement, even if it was in laughter. How Toph kept her feet on the floor, to sense everything at all times. How Aang sat just a tad closer to Toph than to her. And how Sokka preferred placing things in front of her, instead of handing them to her.

The only one who acted completely relaxed was her brother. He always was a bit dense, but this time she was thankful for it. He'd really forgiven her the second she came back. The others were doing what they were doing subconsciously, of course, their conscious actions were very kind. They'd just need some time to get used to this. Azula would wait.

**oooooooooo**

_**This is it. Not my proudest work, but it was done.**_

_**In this chapter, with Aang, I made Azula's help a tiny bit less needed because Aang is already so good at what he does. He just got a new perspective on the whole thing, got to know the new Azula and they came to a few smart conclusions together. I don't really see them as amazing friends or anything, but they're both wise as hell…**_

_**About the surprise party… You know those dorks would do it…**_

_**Anyway, if you've been reading this and haven't left a review till now, it's your chance :)**_


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